The Purposeful Prose Advice Column: A Writer’s Pen Name

Dear Purposeful Prose,

I wanted to share something I’ve been observing lately. I know that, years ago, women used to have to publish under men’s names to get taken seriously in the literary world. Additionally, there have been years worth of pen names from authors who didn’t want to get recognized. I understand that, sometimes, famous authors pivot to pen names when they’re trying new genres as well. None of that bothers me. In the age of the internet, it feels like everyone is grasping for the most real version of everyone, and that includes authors. I saw a small indie author get ripped to shreds after her readers found out she wasn’t using her own name. Why do people use pen names these days? Also, why are people so bothered when they find out another author uses a pen name?

The subject of pen names is interesting to me because most of this discussion boils down to privacy and marketing. You’re right that some famous authors pivot and use pen names for books that concern subjects their core audience might not engage in. That author might be testing the waters or experimenting with different styles. 

On the other hand, keeping your personal information private is difficult. If you’re a writer who publishes books to sell, there will be a marketing component wherein you’ll market yourself. Keeping yourself under a pen name means that there will be a digital barrier between your name and your pen name. The search results that come up for your name and your pen name will look different enough that your books and marketing, ideally, won’t be as tied to your personal/professional life. 

I’ve seen indie authors whose day jobs involve working with vulnerable populations use pen names so that those they help are not impacted. Even if it’s difficult to maintain full privacy online, there is no bad reason to want to make your digital footprint more difficult to trace. 

Another reason an author might choose to use their pen name is for marketing purposes. Some publishers request that authors use pseudonyms so that they can make the name a part of the author’s “brand.” A famous example of a pseudonym taken for marketing purposes is Daniel Handler, who is best known as Lemony Snickett, author of The Series of Unfortunate Events. While publishing under “Daniel Handler” wouldn’t have hurt, “Lemony Snickett” is a very memorable name, and the sound is well-suited to the dark tone of the book. 

Next, and this shouldn’t be surprising, other authors take pseudonyms to disguise a part of their identity. Sometimes, this is necessary for safety purposes or it is requested for marketing purposes, and the author might feel left with little choice. On the other hand, we have cases like those of Sam Forster.  

This article from NPR covers his story in detail. Sam Forster is a writer who wanted to cover race and racism in America, a topic that I would normally applaud any author for tackling, but his method did a great deal of harm. As a disclaimer, I am white, and while I will write about the kind of harm I recognize, I believe the voices who matter most in response to this story are minority voices, particularly Black voices. 

As such, I highly encourage you to watch this video from Book Chats with Shelley, who discusses this situation in more detail.  

Needless to say, the Forster issue didn’t directly concern a pseudonym as such. The issue came from Forster using blackface without understanding or wanting to understand the harm those actions caused. No end product could, to my mind, justify the means. 

Because Forster did not have the lived experience of a Black person from America, I am of the belief that this experiment was a failure before it began. If he reached out, genuinely, as himself, to collect accounts from Black Americans, it would have been possible to reflect on those experiences in a productive way. 

While this story does not concern a pseudonym in the same way, when an author decides to disguise a part of their identity, there is capacity for that to cause harm to the integrity of authentic voices, particularly authentic minority voices. As a way to further understand the type of harm this can cause, I highly recommend this article from NPR on “Writing Past the White Gaze as a Black Author.” 

Some reasons why people might feel bothered about authors taking on pseudonyms does concern a want of authenticity, but deeper than that, a name and identity can make an audience feel attached, especially when that audience believes they can personally identify with the author. If the author chooses to use their pseudonym to pose as a marginalized person when they do not have that lived experience, they set a precedent for those who do have those lived experiences. 

While using a pseudonym isn’t inherently a bad thing, one’s motivations for that pseudonym are usually ethical, but not always. If they want to protect their privacy or conduct an experiment that does no harm, publishing under a pseudonym can be a productive safety net, and I do not believe there is anything disingenuous about wanting to be safe in this evolving online landscape.  

If you have a writing or editing-focused question, I would be more than happy to dedicate a post to you. Contact us with any questions you might have or to schedule a free consultation with yours truly!

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